King Hard Stone
King Hard Stone is the unicorn king of Stonult, one of the kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest. Personality Hard Stone is a very proud, headstrong, and boastful individual. Because of his age, he is also somewhat frail, with constant complaints about hip and back pains. He refuses to retire and choose a successor as king despite being up in age, insisting that he is still strong enough to continue to rule the kingdom. Quartz Blitz describes him as a "stubborn". His pride has caused him to have very little respect for those younger than him, as he verbally attacked Spike for not have control over his kind due to his inexperience. This also went to Strongpaw who is able to make him remember, on his words, before he became a stubborn old stallion, likely meaning he had a kinder and friendlier heart in his youth. Hard Stone attributes his behaviour as a result of his encounter(s) with Tirek in his youth, stating that he had lost sight of who he was because of him. Despite this, he remained an open-minded individual and even regained a sense of himself after seeing Strongpaw's attitude, gaining great respect for Strongpaw's skill and power, as well as his wisdom. He has also come to view Naruto in a similar light even in spite of his young age. This is also seen during the time he tells Stone Quake and Quartz Blitz that he remembered what he really used to be before he became a stubborn old stallion, likely meaning he had a kinder and friendlier heart in his youth. Hard Stone also holds his father in high regard. During the chaos Ulysses had started at the summit, Hard Stone didn't seem to be alarmed once the battle in the Summit Room began. He appeared to be calm enough to let Mystic Heart deal with the current situation. Upon observing the fight between the two, he seemed quite entertained, which led him to join the fight. Hard Stone seems to be quite ruthless, taking down a heavily-injured Ulysses who had just been saved yet again after facing the wrath of the regents before him, on the claim that everyone wants Ulysses dead, even though Hard Stone himself has no grudge against Ulysses personally, even it was him who captured his Jinchuriki. He then immediately turned his attention to Adagio, claiming that she was next to die with his particle nature. He does however, seem to be considerate enough to let the General of Chaos speak for his actions, reasoning with Aspen to listen to his reasons before making their own. Hard Stone originally hated all the other kingdoms, and in the past may have resorted to underhanded tactics, taught by his predecessor. Now Hard Stone has come to accept the other kingdoms and is capable of great teamwork with the ones he once called his enemies. This is a trait that he attributes to his long life. During the war, Hard Stone revealed himself as a very determined, charismatic and inspirational leader, as he was the one who pushed the Fourth Unit and later the other regents to face Tirek without fear, despite his displays of overwhelming power and incited his comrades to doing the same. Skills He is proficient in using earth, wind and fire natures transformations. He also has the ability to use the triple combined nature, where he combines the three elements to perform the advanced element particle nature, where he can pulverize his enemies to molecular-sized dust. The second in existence with this ability after his predecessor, Platinum, Hard Stone's particle nature is quite powerful, capable of destroying an entire island reputedly. He can alter the size and shape of his particle nature spell, being able to split it down the middle. Hard Stone is capable of using earth nature, using it to create rock clones to aid him in battle and to manipulate gravity, allowing him to increase or decrease an object's weight through physical contact. He can restrict a target's movements with the former, and lift the Wild Isle with the latter. He can also fly by decreasing his own gravity. To make up for his lack of physical prowess, Hard Stone can cover his fist in rock to increase his striking power. If that fails, he can further increase the weight of his rock fist to penetrate strong defences. Because of his advanced age and bad back, Hard Stone's physical abilities are often hindered in battle, though he compensates with incredible stamina and durability. Hard Stone is quite analytic in combat, and even stated that he normally feels a potential opponent out first before engaging in direct combat. When he first encountered Pandora, he intentionally attacked him with a light punch to test her. In the event that Pandora and Rothbart had a trap laid out, he had already prepared a clone decoy. Family Tree Description Background When he was an adolescent, Hard Stone was tasked with cleaning his kingdom's Stone Monument. As he did so, his grandfather, King Gravel Chain, came and spoke with him. Hard Stone, who believed that his grandfater was just a cheap old stallion to have such a simple thing as the symbol of the village, was then told that the stone represented the unmovable will of the ponies of the kingdom. Gravel Chain then told Hard Stone that he too possessed that strong will, but would lose it if he didn't face adversities with determination. With their war against Evermist, during the reign of his father, getting worse to them, they asked for Tirek's help. After sending a group of guards to him, they never returned, what caused Platinum and Stone Hard to go to him. The meeting caused Hard Stone to not trust in anymore alliance. At certain point, before the capture of One-Tail, his kingdom was attacked by Rothbart, who wanted to test his new explosive nature. They fought with each other before Rothbart retreate. ''Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox'' In “The Summit of Regents Begins”, King Hard Stone receives a summoning from King Aspen to a summit of regents in Trottinghan. He, accompanied by his granddaughter and bodyguard, goes there, where he reunites with the other regents. In “Discuss Between Regents”, King Hard Stone participates in the summit, where he expresses his concern that the Lord of Chaos’ villains could capture the Jinchuriki so easily, considering it an embarrassment. He seems to agree with the idea of having Celestia leading the united force. In “The Power of the Regents”, when they were alerted to Ulysses’ presence and Aspen went off to confront him, Hard Stone commented that he was still had a bad temper as an adult as when he was young. While waiting for his return, he offered to give Strongpaw and Spike tips on how to be a good leader, what irritates the latter. The leader of the pony-panthers only asked why he has no faith. Ulysses arrived at their location soon after, but Hard Stone chose to let Mystic Heart deal with him. After Ulysses was on the verge of death due to Mystic Heart's specialty, Petal Sprout activated the spores causing several clones to start growing, draining everyone’s energy that they had attached themselves to in the process. Hard Stone uses a gravity spell that is related to earth nature to petrify the clones who falls off him to the ground creating a huge crater. Hard Stone then decided to intervene as it seemed that Mystic Heart was having some trouble. He attacked Ulysses with his particle nature. He then turned his sights to Adagio. King Aspen then appears and demands to know where Ulysses is, to which Hard Stone responds saying he has turned him to dust. This enrages Aspen who stated that he wanted to do that. Suddenly, the General of Chaos appears with Ulysses on his shoulder. In “Declaration of War”, Hard Stone watches the General of Chaos revealing his master’s plan about using Ten-Tails to enact a curse that will put everypony in an illusionary peace in order to control them and declaring war when he and the other regents refused to give him Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. In terms of tactics for the forthcoming battles, Hard Stone suggested they use their two remaining jinchuriki to their advantage, but the other regents disagreed, believing that would make them too easy to be captured. After it was decided that Aspen would lead the alliance, the meeting ended and, in their way back to Stonult, Hard Stone surprised his bodyguards by not deciding to simply kill the jinchuriki. When asked why, he merely stated that it was because he remembered who he was "before he got so stubborn", referring back to how Strongpaw talked down on him about "forsaking himself". In “The Regents’ Decision”, he attends a meeting between regents in Thicket to discuss the upcoming war. In "The Submission of the General of Death", when they learn that the jinchūriki's location on the Wild Isle has been discovered by the villains, Hard Stone volunteers to go to the island to defend it against any assaults. He breaks his hip again as he leaves, so Strongpaw suggest that he go instead. Hard Stone goes anyway, flying to the island with Stone Quake and Quartz Blitz. As they near the island they spot the reincarnated Pandora and Rothbart riding a giant clay bird. Hard Stone attacks them, but finds that they are clay clones that soon detonate. As the Hard Stone that attacked them was a rock clone, the real king shares a not so nice conversation with Rothbart regarding their past. Pandora and Rothbart retreat to the island but are pursued by Hard Stone. He prepares to attack them both with one of his particle nature spells when he is stopped by Stone Quake, who reminds him that any attack he makes is likely to destroy the island. Hard Stone draws Rothbart away from the island so that they can find out if his particle nature is superior to Rothbart's explosive nature. A coffin appears and takes Rothbart away before their battle can start. When Hard Stone returns to the island, Golden Paladin asks him to take him to the other regents, as he has something important to tell them. In “The Strange Disease”, Hard Stone carries the island to the lake close to the Alliance’s headquarters, complaining of the strain it puts on his back. When he returns to headquarters he is given the Alliance’s symbol that was designed while he was gone. In "The War Begins", when the Alliance's units advance to war, Hard Stone watches them at the headquarters. In "The Secret of the Reincarnation Curse", after learning about the clones traveling underground, Hard Stone said that Obsidian Blade should be notified of that. In "The Brilliant Strategist", when Strongpaw's Fourth Unit reports coming into contact with a reincarnated King Platinum, Hard Stone is sent to provide support, headquarters believing that only one particle-user can defeat another particle-user. In "Battleground", once he arrives at the Fourth Unit's location, he tells Gaara that he has arrived to redeem himself, taking back his values he had disposed of long ago. In "The General of Chaos' Surprise Attack", Hard Stone, Strongpaw and the Fourth Unit retreats for the night. In "A Father's Hope, A Mother's Love", Strongpaw uses his sand to hold the regents in place for Hard Stone's attack, but Platinum escapes counters his attack. Their particle nature spells collide and destroy the area. Hard Stone then remarks that his father's strength had not waned at all. Hard Stone tells Chief Sandstorm that Strongpaw is the Regimental Commander of the Alliance, and that all the regents respect his power. This allows Platinum to confirm that an alliance was formed. Platinum then reminds Hard Stone that by taking full advantage of the post-war situation, the dominance of Stonult can be assured. Hard Stone tells him that he won't be doing that this time, which surprises his father. The fighting resumes and Platinum runs to avoid Strongpaw's attack, while Hard Stone pursues him. In "The King of Mirages", as the chase ensues, with both men seemingly clashing several times, Platinum says to Hard Stone, who had become visibly tired that his age was catching up to him, and as he disappeared from view, to call Strongpaw before he died as well. However, telling Platinum not to underestimate him just yet, he creates several clones. As their battle ensues, Strongpaw arrives at the battle scene and tries to warn Hard Stone of Platinum's attack from behind but is unsuccessful and Hard Stone seemingly throws his back out as a result. Strongpaw tries to aid him, but Platinum prepares to attack them with his particle nature. As Star attempts a surprise attack with his Spiraling Spheres which Platinum dodges, Hard Stone recovers in time to tell him that Platinum is a sensor. After some good teamwork between Strongpaw and Star who was able to hit Platinum, Hard Stone moves swiftly and attacks him with his gravity spell, turning Platinum into stone. As Platinum is being sealed by Strongpaw with sand, he tells Hard Stone that for someone who detested other kingdoms, he worked well with them, to which Hard Stone replies that he had lived long enough like that and it was time for a change. Hard Stone then tells Star to tell them why he was on the battlefield while they move. After heading to another battlefield with Strongpaw to confront Gusty Blizzard, Hard Stone stays suspended over the battlefield and attempts to attack the Giant Clam after Strongpaw's sand detects the real one. Hard Stone is however unable to finish the spell because of his dwindling energy reserves. He then decides to attack the clam at close range and uses a rock hoof, the attack however is only strong enough to lift the illusion spell around the clam. As Gusty Blizzard chides him for being too old, Hard Stone tells him that he isn't the same little child that he could pick on any more and then proceed to use a gravity spell to make him rock fist even heavier. This attack is enough to seemingly kill the Giant Clam but Hard Stone throws his back out in the process. Taking this opportunity, Gusty Blizzard uses his Water Gun Spell to shoot Hard Stone. In "The Infinite Steaming Explosion Spell", it's revealed that the Hard Stone that got shot was a sand clone Gaara created and switched with him at the last moment. As Gusty Blizzard is being sealed, Hard Stone claims victory for the Alliance. This euphoria however is short-lived as the reincarnated king is able to break out of Strongpaw's Desert Imperial Funeral Spell using his Infinite Steaming Explosion Spell. Hard Stone watches on in horror telling them that this was the spell that not even Platinum knew how to deal with. After he explains how the spell worked, he curses at the fact that he's still unable to move because of his back. When Gusty Blizzard tells them that he wasn't going to tell them how to counter his spell as he hoped this method would help them in another way Hard Stone questions him about his motives. He is then told that if they could not defeat him, who was already dead then they had no hopes of defeating the leader of the opposition. Eventually, Gusty Blizzard is sealed. In "Reinforcements Arrive", after King Gusty Blizzard is sealed, it is revealed that Platinum had split apart. Hard Stone then identifies the one with him as Lord Tirek. In "The Regents Assemble", as Tirek begins his assault on the Fourth Unit, Hard Stone warns the others not to approach Tirek as he can absorb their magic. Hard Stone notices Platinum failing to activate a particle nature spell, and wonders if he can't use them while in a split state. He orders the sensors to keep an eye on Platinum. Hard Stone then turns his attention to Tirek and raises the ground beneath him as one of Star's clones attacks Tirek with a Spiraling Sphere. The attack smashes into Tirek, but to Hard Stone's surprise he is unharmed thanks to the Warrior of Dark Light. As Star and Strongpaw begin their attack Hard Stone turns all of the sand in the area light, allowing Strongpaw to manipulate it more freely. Their attack fails when Tirek absorbs the magic in the sand and the Spiraling Star. Tirek retreats to the top of a rock formation and, to Hard Stone's horror, summons a meteorite. As the meteorites plummets towards them, Hard Stone tells them not to give up before trying. He flies into the sky and uses his gravity spell in an attempt to stop it. Along with the aid of Strongpaw and his sand, he is finally able to stop the meteorite despite his back taking severe damage during the process. Tirek calls down another one that collides with the first sending Hard Stone crashing to the ground. In the aftermath Hard Stone is found severely wounded but still alive. He later watches on as Star heads out to counter Tirek's Deep Forest Emergence and tells Star's clone who was on the verge of disappearing at any time to leave the rest to them. He then resolutely states that it was time that he picked himself and the values he threw away long ago up and with Tirek, there was no opponent more worthy. Hard Stone declares that he will fight Tirek. Tirek says that he wants test more of his power, but doesn't think Hard Stone will be able to fight. Hard Stone remembers a time when Tirek had betrayed Stonult. He says that because he understands the suffering of the past he can think of a better way to the future, stating that the current war is different as they were fighting together. Tirek tells him that there is no point in changing the world any further as it can sleep peacefully in the Lord of Chaos' darkness. Hard Stone remarks that he lost his way because of Tirek and now is the time to pick himself up. He says that it is Tirek who is going to sleep. Hard Stone agrees to let the young ones help him just this once and declares he will defeat Tirek for himself and the future. Tirek and Platinum attack just as Celestia, Ingrid and Aspen arrive. Mystic Heart arrives soon after via combined teleportion spells. Hard Stone smiles and says that being old has its perks as he never thought he would see different regents fighting together. Hard Stone thanks Celestia as she quickly moves to heal him. Aspen, Ingrid and Mysrtic Heart stall for time as Celestia finishes healing him and Strongpaw. As Star's clone pleads with Celestia to heal him as well, Hard Stone tells Star that the war is not just about protecting him any more but was also to protect everyone. When Tirek attacks them, Hard Stone forms a rock golem and Strongpaw layers his Shield of Sand on top of it, effectively defending against the attack. Hard Stone formulates a plan and enlists the help of Aspen and Mystic Heart. Mystic Heart obscures Tirek's vision, while Hard Stone lightens Aspen, making him faster, then as they approach Tirek, Hard Stone weights the Raikage down bolstering his attack power allowing him to knock Tirek and his Warrior of Dark Light away. Hard Stone then tells Star's clone why he joined the allied forces and talks about the hatred on the Pony World. He says to him that they will handle Tirek, while the real Star fights the General of Chaos. Before Star's clone disperses, he along with the rest of the regents leave him with one word "win". In "A Will of Stone and a Will of Iron", as the battle wages on, Hard Stone creates a gigantic rock golem that is destroyed by Tirek's Deep Forest Bloom Spell. Although they try not to breathe in the pollen produced by the spell, the regents fall unconscious after doing so. After remembering a conversation he had with his grandfather, Hard Stone musters an incredible strength and using the conical version of his particle nature, decimates the trees. As Celestia and Ingrid takes to the front lines, Hard Stone, while supporting Aspen, aids the princesses in a fold attack on Tirek to obliterate his Warrior of Dark Light, as Aspen attacks while Hard Stone weights his attacks giving them more force. He along with the rest of the regents are shocked when Celestia is hit by Tirek's magic who reveals the Tirek they sealed was a wood clone. The regents, believing Celestia to be out of combat, are stunned to see her launch a surprise attack on Tirek. Following up Celestia's surprise attack, Hard Stone declares that his spell could kill him and attempts to destroy Tirek, but Tirek is able to absorb his attack. After Tirek creates multiple wood clones to fight each regent, Hard Stone looks on in shock as Tirek asks the five regents whether or not they wanted the clones to use the Warrior of Dark Light. In "The Fall of the Centaur", as the battle raged on, Hard Stone comes to Aspen's aid protecting him against six of Tirek's clones' attack while weighting them down, immobilising them. Releasing Aspen from the illusion that was cast on him, he rallies the five regents once again to fight on. With his energy running low, Hard Stone has Celestia transfer energy to him which he uses to cast a large-scale Atomic Dismantling Spell which is successful in destroying the thirty clones. Preparing to attack Tirek after the other regents launch their collaborative assault, Hard Stone is unable to follow through with his initial plans to blast Tirek with another particle nature spell as the latter manifests the complete form of his Warrior of Dark Light. As Tirek commanded his Warrior of Dark Light form to stabilise, the regents stare in shock and Hard Stone, refusing to back down despite Tirek's intimidation tactics, Hard Stone and the other regents stood once again to face Tirek even after being buffeted by a single swing from one of the swords of the Warrior of Dark Light. When Tirek prepared to attack the regents once again, Purple Smoke and Melody appear, subdueing and imprisoning Tirek. In "Grandfather VS Grandson", he and the other regents meet with Heartbeat who tells them what is happening at the front line. In "The Tree of Dreams", while closing in on the battlefield, they first see the tree form of the Ten-Tails, before being contacted telepathically by Luna who informed every one on the battlefield about what Celestia had learned about the tree from her battle with Hepheus. As Star's anger at the loss of the comrades he had fought so hard to protect grew, his emotions and memories were conveyed to everyone via Silverweed's spell. As he and the other regents arrive, Twilight tells to everyone to help her and Star to fight for their dream of a better tomorrow. In "Pursuing Hope", he dispersed to a corner or the battlefield where he noted that while the holy tree was truly enormous, the land was their ally as he rallied the troops around him. In "The Beginning of the End", Hard Stone and the other regents alongside the Alliance confronted a clone when he made an appearance on the battlefield. In "The Eternal Nightmare Curse", he is put under the effect of the Eternal Nightmare Curse. In "The End of the War", he is released from the Eternal Nightmare Curse. Appearances Legends: *Y - Appears and have an active role *N - Do not appears and is not mentioned directly by the characters. *B - Appears, but have a passive role or his or her appearance is implicit *M - Mentioned directly by the characters. Category:Order and Chaos Saga Characters Category:Recurring Characters Category:Enchanted Forest Inhabitants Category:Stonult Inhabitants Category:Unicorns Category:Royalty